Bills may be paid and financial transactions conducted without the use of or exchange of physical currency. For example, it is known and practiced today to conduct financial transactions such as purchases and bill payments by the use of bank or other agency credit cards, as well as the use of debit cards linked to bank account numbers. For example, purchases are frequently made on the Internet or at retail shops using ‘plastic’ cards such as credit cards. It is also known and practiced today to transfer monetary value between two disparate bank accounts, as well as to conduct electronic payment of bills and invoices, these transactions conducted over the Internet network backbone by users having access to computer equipment and Internet banking accounts with banks and financial institutions offering such Internet banking services.
Credit and debit cards are generally issued by banks or other financial institutions and are provided with marking on the front side identifying the card issuer, the card owner, the credit card account number and an expiration date, among other things. Such marks are usually provided as embossed characters enabling the card to make impressions on credit card purchase slips and the like. It is known for credit cards and debit cards to have account information stored electronically also and for retail establishments to have electronic means of reading the encoded electronic account information from the card to register it and complete an account debit or credit transaction. Account information may be encoded on the credit or debit card using any variety of know and practiced methods including storage of electronic account information in magnetic domains written to a magnetic strip on the back of the card, as well as the newer technology “smart cards” which have a programmable read/write memory chip embedded into the card wherein the chip stores and retains the account information, cash value information or other information. Either variety of card (magnetic strip or smart card) is adaptable for use as an electronic cash value card. For example, one variety of cash value card is in common use today in certain service establishments such as Laundromats where the user ‘recharges’ the cash value card at a recharge station in the store with currency such as dollar bills, and the cash value is stored to the value card. The value transfer card is then inserted into laundry machines to pay for wash and dry cycles and the machines deduct the cash value directly from the value transfer card.
It is known to transfer monetary value between two parties using electronic transfers or wire transfers between two bank accounts, most frequently between bank accounts in two separate banking entities. It is also known to transfer cash value across one country or internationally using wire transfer service providers such as Western Union, for example. Such transfers involve an intermediate party whose role is to enable the transaction from end to end, and such a service typically exacts a fee.
There is a need however for a telebanking apparatus for transferring money or cash value between two parties in the same country or across national borders that operates more independent of third party enablers and that permits two parties to securely exchange or transfer cash value over the global Internet network, wherein the cash value is transferred from a cash value card or credit card to another party over the Internet and stored to a cash value card, wherein the cash value on the card is available to pay various bills electronically as well as for making purchases through Internet retailers or other brick and mortar retailers.
There is also a need for a telebanking apparatus that is adapted for high speed connection to the Internet using a variety of network connection means, for example but not limited to, direct DSL connection using an internal DSL modem, direct connection to a cable Internet service using an internal cable modem, conventional phone data modem for connection using conventional dialup Internet services over conventional copper phone lines, as well as Internet connection through data packet services over cellular network service providers.
There is also a need for a telebanking apparatus that replaces standard phone equipment, providing superior services to phone equipment, and includes wireless phone handset and personal digital assistant (PDA) type electronic devices equipped to provide Internet browsing and Internet cash value transfer functions.
Therefore, a telebanking apparatus for overcoming the drawbacks of such conventional approaches for providing cash value transfer between parties over the Internet would be useful, advantageous and novel.